Infamous funeral bars to be replaced by $125 million mixed-use tower

The Kirby Collection, a $125 million mixed-used development aiming to create the ultimate live-work-play community where a rowdy collection of funeral home bars once stood, is set to break ground in April or May.

Landowner and New York-based developer Thor Equities released renderings as well as a slick, head-spinning 3D video on Vimeo touting the future compound. The project is bounded by Kirby Drive and West Main, Colquitt and Lake streets.

According to Thor Equities, The Kirby Collection will include:

A 25-story, 385,000-square-foot high-end residential tower featuring 199 luxury rental units overlooking an acre of landscaped amenity deck and anchored by a penthouse-level "Skyview Suite." The suite, with a chef's kitchen and panoramic views of the Houston skyline, is available to all residents.

Just last May, the infamous funeral bars — nightclubs Roak, Hendricks Pub and OTC — shuttered when Thor Equities announced the site would be redesignated to unrestricted use to make way for The Kirby Collection. That decision was preceded by several years of complaints from homeowners in the nearby David Crockett subdivision about the Upper Kirby bar/nightclub complex that partied hard in the former funeral home complex.